Defense
Former Vice President Cheney made a rare trip to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to give House and Senate Republicans a dire assessment of what $500 billion in cuts to the Pentagon budget would mean for national security. – DEFCON Hill
Despite the “dire consequences” to U.S. national security of congressionally-threatened budgetary sequestration, the Pentagon has no plans to mitigate anticipated damage to domestic and international cooperative programs, a DoD official said. – Defense News
More than 2 million jobs could be lost if Congress does not agree on a budget plan by the end of the year, according to a defense industry group’s report on a budget bill that would cut total federal spending by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Republicans and Democrats disagree over how to resolve sequestration: a short-term fix versus a long-term deal. The different approaches were on display July 17, when Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., spoke at an event hosted by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). – Defense News
A bipartisan group of Senators is urging Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to provide more than $300 million in promised funding needed for modernizing the aging U.S. nuclear weapons complex. – Washington Free Beacon
The Pentagon will be steadily increasing its spending on electronic warfare (EW) programs in the coming five years, growing to about $5.6 billion in fiscal 2017 from $3.6 billion in fiscal 2013, based on analysis and data provided by Avascent 050, an online market analysis toolkit for global defense programs. – Aviation Week
The U.S. Navy is decommissioning two spy plane squadrons that played key behind-the-scenes roles in conflicts dating back to the Cold War. – Defense News
The U.S. Navy angered Republicans by spending $26 a gallon for biofuels for this week’s Great Green Fleet demonstration, but the Air Force received little attention when it paid twice as much per gallon to test synthetic jet fuel last month. – Reuters
FPI Executive Director Jamie Fly and Policy Director Robert Zarate write: His use of the U.S. armed forces and our nation’s security as hostages in a larger political standoff over tax increases certainly doesn’t constitute leadership. The men and women of the military and the American people deserve better leadership from their commander-in-chief. – National Review Online’s The Corner
International Affairs
The House passed legislation Tuesday evening that authorizes the State Department, the Peace Corps, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors for 2013. – The Hill’s Floor Action Blog
The War
The al Qaeda operative accused of masterminding the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole appeared relaxed as he was escorted into a courtroom with his defense team for a motions hearing Tuesday. – Washington Times
The chief judge in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal refused on Tuesday to step aside from the trial of a prisoner accused of orchestrating the suicide-bomb attack that killed 17 U.S. soldiers aboard the warship USS Cole in 2000. – Reuters
Missile Defense
Two senior Republican House lawmakers are demanding that the Defense Department provide them with its “hedging strategy” for protecting the United States from long-range ballistic missile attacks – Global Security Newswire
Cybersecurity
The U.S. electricity grid is dangerously vulnerable to sabotage by hackers, spies and terrorists, despite a seven-year effort to protect it from cyberattacks, senators and officials said Tuesday. – Washington Times
